Creede Community Church, UCC
Our Pastor:
Sarah B. Linn
Rev. Dr. Sarah B. Linn has nearly 20 years of experience leading international Christian relief and development efforts in over a dozen countries. From 2003-2009, she lived and worked in the Republic of Yemen, where she founded a network of adult education centers.
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After returning from Yemen, Sarah was ordained by the Presbyterian Church (USA). She has been part of Creede Community Church since 2017.
In addition to earlier degrees (a BA in English Literature and MA in Higher Ed Administration/Student Development from Bowling Green State University), Sarah received her M.Div from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California and her Doctor of Ministry degree, focused on non-coercive community engagement, from Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma.​
Wed. Word: Mar. 4
Jesus describes himself as the “good shepherd,” promised in Ezekiel 34 (who rescues the people from faithless, vicious, and self-serving “shepherds” - definitely worth a read!). A good shepherd - far from stealing and preying upon the flock, protects it from thieves and predators. And not through violence, but as one who “lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10).
Here’s a weird thing, though: Shepherding is often entrusted to children. Like when you send your kids out to fetch the eggs from the backyard coop. It’s not a high-status, high-powered function of conquest - not even a little bit. Tellingly, it’s one of the central images of God’s way in the world that Jesus embraced. To be fully human, a faithful representation of God’s interest, is to protect and gather in - not through overwhelming force, but in low-status, nonviolent - even affectionate - self-giving. That’s why the peace makers will be called, “the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).
